Policy-makers speak up - For safer food in Asia and the Pacific
Illnesses from unsafe food are estimated to cause 420 000 deaths annually, mostly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Food safety has always been highlighted globally as an important topic. However, the number of casualties indicates that few countries have been able to sufficiently invest in prevention measures. One reason is that food safety cases are often invisible: they are rarely recorded in disease surveillance and food monitoring systems. When the problem is invisible, it is often mistakenly considered as a low priority. That leads to various negative consequences affecting public health, trade, and the economy. In order to emphasize the importance and impact of food safety, and its strong relevance to food security, various high-level officials and policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific have spoken out about the issue. A total of ten countries have discussed why food safety is important for their contexts, how they have improved their situations, and how they have collaborated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO strives to continue providing assistance to countries to promote food safety, which significantly contributes to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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| Format: | Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
FAO ;
2021
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| Online Access: | https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/CB2869EN http://www.fao.org/3/cb2869en/cb2869en.pdf |
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| Summary: | Illnesses from unsafe food are estimated to cause 420 000 deaths annually, mostly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Food safety has always been highlighted globally as an important topic. However, the number of casualties indicates that few countries have been able to sufficiently invest in prevention measures. One reason is that food safety cases are often invisible: they are rarely recorded in disease surveillance and food monitoring systems. When the problem is invisible, it is often mistakenly considered as a low priority. That leads to various negative consequences affecting public health, trade, and the economy.
In order to emphasize the importance and impact of food safety, and its strong relevance to food security, various high-level officials and policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific have spoken out about the issue. A total of ten countries have discussed why food safety is important for their contexts, how they have improved their situations, and how they have collaborated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO strives to continue providing assistance to countries to promote food safety, which significantly contributes to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. |
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